Appointment with Death (5 page)

It was the morning of the start to Petra.

Sarah came down to find a big masterful woman with a rocking-horse nose, whom she had already noticed in the hotel, outside the main entrance, objecting fiercely to the size of the car.

‘A great deal too small! Four passengers?
And
a dragoman? Then, of course, we must have a much larger saloon. Please take that car away and return with one of an adequate size.'

In vain did the representative of Messrs Castle raise his voice in explanation. That was the size of car always provided. It was really a most comfortable car. A larger car was not suitable for desert travel. The large woman, metaphorically speaking, rolled over him like a large steamroller.

Then she turned her attention to Sarah.

‘Miss King? I am Lady Westholme. I am sure you
agree with me that that car was grossly inadequate as to size?'

‘Well,' said Sarah cautiously, ‘I agree that a larger one
would
be more comfortable!'

The young man from Castle's murmured that a larger car would add to the price.

‘The price,' said Lady Westholme firmly, ‘is inclusive, and I shall certainly refuse to sanction any addition to it. Your prospectus distinctly states “in comfortable saloon car”. You will keep to the terms of your agreement.'

Recognizing defeat, the young man from Castle's murmured something about seeing what he could do and wilted away from the spot.

Lady Westholme turned to Sarah, a smile of triumph on her weather-beaten countenance, her large red rocking-horse nostrils dilated exultantly.

Lady Westholme was a very well-known figure in the English political world. When Lord Westholme, a middle-aged, simple-minded peer whose only interests in life were hunting, shooting and fishing, was returning from a trip to the United States, one of his fellow passengers was a Mrs Vansittart. Shortly afterwards Mrs Vansittart became Lady Westholme. The match was often cited as one of the examples of the danger of ocean voyages. The new Lady Westholme lived entirely in tweeds and stout brogues, bred dogs,
bullied the villagers and forced her husband pitilessly into public life. It being borne in upon her, however, that politics were not Lord Westholme's
métier
in life and never would be, she graciously allowed him to resume his sporting activities and herself stood for Parliament. Being elected with a substantial majority, Lady Westholme threw herself with vigour into political life, being especially active at Question Time. Cartoons of her soon began to appear (always a sure sign of success). As a public figure she stood for the old-fashioned values of family life, welfare work amongst women, and was an ardent supporter of the League of Nations. She had decided views on questions of Agriculture, Housing and Slum Clearance. She was much respected and almost universally disliked! It was highly possible that she would be given an under-secretaryship when her party returned to power. At the moment a Liberal Government (owing to a split in the National Government between Labour and Conservatives) was somewhat unexpectedly in power.

Lady Westholme looked with grim satisfaction after the departing car. ‘Men always think they can impose upon women,' she said.

Sarah thought that it would be a brave man who thought he could impose upon Lady Westholme! She introduced Dr Gerard, who had just come out of the hotel.

‘Your name is, of course, familiar to me,' said Lady Westholme, shaking hands. ‘I was talking to Professor Chantereau the other day in Paris. I have been taking up the question of the treatment of pauper lunatics very strongly lately. Very strongly indeed. Shall we come inside while we wait for a better car to be obtained?'

A vague little middle-aged lady with wisps of grey hair who was hovering nearby turned out to be Miss Amabel Pierce, the fourth member of the party. She, too, was swept into the lounge under Lady Westholme's protecting wing.

‘You are a professional woman, Miss King?'

‘I've just taken my
M.B.
'

‘Good,' said Lady Westholme with condescending approval. ‘If anything is to be accomplished, mark my words, it is women who will do it.'

Uneasily conscious for the first time of her sex, Sarah followed Lady Westholme meekly to a seat.

There, as they sat waiting, Lady Westholme informed them that she had refused an invitation to stay with the High Commissioner during her stay in Jerusalem. ‘I did not want to be hampered by officialdom. I wished to look into things by myself.'

‘What things?' Sarah wondered.

Lady Westholme went on to explain that she was staying at the Solomon Hotel so as to remain unhampered. She added that she had made several suggestions
to the manager for the more competent running of his hotel.

‘Efficiency,' said Lady Westholme, ‘is my watchword.'

It certainly seemed to be! In a quarter of an hour a large and extremely comfortable car arrived and in due course—after advice from Lady Westholme as to how the luggage should be stowed—the party set off.

Their first halt was the Dead Sea. They had lunch at Jericho. Afterwards when Lady Westholme, armed with a Baedeker, had gone off with Miss Pierce, the doctor and the fat dragoman, to do a tour of old Jericho, Sarah remained in the garden of the hotel.

Her head ached slightly and she wanted to be alone. A deep depression weighed her down—a depression for which she found it hard to account. She felt suddenly listless and uninterested, disinclined for sightseeing, bored by her companions. She wished at this moment that she had never committed herself to this Petra tour. It was going to be very expensive and she felt quite sure she wasn't going to enjoy it! Lady Westholme's booming voice, Miss Pierce's endless twitterings, and the anti-Zionist lamentation of the dragoman, were already fraying her nerves to a frazzle. She disliked almost as much Dr Gerard's amused air of knowing exactly how she was feeling.

She wondered where the Boyntons were now—perhaps they had gone on to Syria—they might be at Baalbek or Damascus. Raymond—she wondered what Raymond was doing. Strange how clearly she could see his face—its eagerness—its diffidence—its nervous tension…

Oh, hell! Why go on thinking of people she would probably never see again? That scene the other day with the old woman—what could have possessed her to march up to the old lady and spurt out a lot of nonsense. Other people must have heard some of it. She fancied that Lady Westholme had been quite close by. Sarah tried to remember exactly what it was she had said. Something that probably sounded quite absurdly hysterical. Goodness, what a fool she had made of herself! But it wasn't her fault really; it was old Mrs Boynton's. There was something about her that made you lose your sense of proportion.

Dr Gerard entered and plumped down in a chair, wiping his hot forehead.

‘Phew! That woman should be poisoned!' he declared.

Sarah started. ‘Mrs Boynton?'

‘Mrs Boynton! No, I meant that Lady Westholme! It is incredible to me that she has had a husband for many years and that he has not already done so. What can he be made of, that husband?'

Sarah laughed.

‘Oh, he's the “huntin', fishin', shootin' ” kind,' she explained.

‘Psychologically that is very sound! He appeases his lust to kill on the (so-called) lower creations.'

‘I believe he is very proud of his wife's activities.'

The Frenchman suggested:

‘Because they take her a good deal away from home? That is understandable.' Then he went on, ‘What did you say just now? Mrs Boynton? Undoubtedly it would be a very good idea to poison her, too. Undeniably the simplest solution of that family problem! In fact a great many women would be better poisoned. All women who have grown old and ugly.'

He made an expressive face.

Sarah cried out, laughing:

‘Oh, you Frenchmen! You've got no use for any woman who isn't young and attractive.'

Gerard shrugged his shoulders.

‘We are more honest about it, that is all. Englishmen, they do not get up in tubes and trains for ugly women—no, no.'

‘How depressing life is,' said Sarah with a sigh.

‘There is no need for
you
to sigh, mademoiselle.'

‘Well, I feel thoroughly disgruntled today.'

‘Naturally.'

‘What do you mean—naturally?' snapped Sarah.

‘You could find the reason very easily if you examine
your state of mind honestly.'

‘I think it's our fellow travelers who depress me,' said Sarah. ‘It's awful, isn't it, but I do hate women! When they're inefficient and idiotic like Miss Pierce, they infuriate me—and, when they're efficient like Lady Westholme, they annoy me more still.'

‘It is, I should say, unavoidable that these two people should annoy you. Lady Westholme is exactly fitted to the life she leads and is completely happy and successful. Miss Pierce has worked for years as a nursery governess and has suddenly come into a small legacy which has enabled her to fulfill her life-long wish and travel. So far, travel has lived up to her expectations. Consequently you, who have just been thwarted in obtaining what you want, naturally resent the existence of people who have been more successful in life than you are.'

‘I suppose you're right,' said Sarah gloomily. ‘What a horribly accurate mind-reader you are. I keep trying to humbug myself and you won't let me.'

At this moment the others returned. The guide seemed the most exhausted of the three. He was quite subdued and hardly exuded any information on the way to Amman. He did not even mention the Jews. For which everyone was profoundly grateful. His voluble and frenzied account of their iniquities had done much to try everyone's temper on the journey from Jerusalem.

Now the road wound upward from the Jordan, twisting and turning, with clumps of oleanders showing rose-coloured flowers.

They reached Amman late in the afternoon and after a short visit to the Graeco-Roman theatre went to bed early. They were to make an early start the next morning as it was a full day's motor run across the desert to Ma'an.

They left soon after eight o'clock. The party was inclined to be silent. It was a hot airless day and by noon when a halt was made for a picnic lunch to be eaten, it was really stiflingly hot. The irritation of a hot day of being boxed up closely with three other human beings had got a little on everyone's nerves.

Lady Westholme and Dr Gerard had a somewhat irritable argument over the League of Nations. Lady Westholme was a fervent supporter of the League. The Frenchman, on the other hand, chose to be witty at the League's expense. From the attitude of the League concerning Abyssinia and Spain they passed to the Litvania boundary dispute of which Sarah had never heard and from there to the activities of the League in suppressing dope gangs.

‘You must admit they have done wonderful work. Wonderful!' snapped Lady Westholme.

Dr Gerard shrugged his shoulders.

‘Perhaps. And at wonderful expense too!'

‘The matter is a very serious one. Under the Dangerous Drugs Act—' The argument waged on.

Miss Pierce twittered to Sarah: ‘It is really
most
interesting travelling with Lady Westholme.'

Sarah said acidly: ‘Is it?' but Miss Pierce did not notice the acerbity and twittered happily on.

‘I've so
often
seen her name in the papers. So
clever
of women to go into public life and hold their own. I'm always so
glad
when a
woman
accomplishes something!'

‘Why?' demanded Sarah ferociously.

Miss Pierce's mouth fell open and she stammered a little.

‘Oh, because—I mean—just because—well—it's so nice that women are
able
to do things!'

‘I don't agree,' said Sarah. ‘It's nice when
any
human being is able to accomplish something worth while! It doesn't matter a bit whether it's a man or a woman. Why should it?'

‘Well, of course—' said Miss Pierce. ‘Yes, I confess—of course, looking at it in that light—'

But she looked slightly wistful. Sarah said more gently:

‘I'm sorry, but I do hate this differentiation between the sexes. “
The modern girl has a thoroughly business-like attitude towards life
.” That sort of thing. It's not a bit true! Some girls are business-like and some aren't.

Some men are sentimental and muddle-headed, others are clear-headed and logical. There are just different types of brains. Sex only matters where sex is directly concerned.'

Miss Pierce flushed a little at the word sex and adroitly changed the subject.

‘One can't help wishing that there were a little shade,' she murmured. ‘But I do think all this emptiness is so wonderful, don't you?'

Sarah nodded.

Yes, she thought, the emptiness was marvellous…Healing…Peaceful…No human beings to agitate one with their tiresome inter-relationships…No burning personal problems! Now, at last, she felt, she was free of the Boyntons. Free of that strange compelling wish to interfere in the lives of people whose orbit did not remotely touch her own. She felt soothed and at peace. Here was loneliness, emptiness, spaciousness…In fact, peace…

Only, of course, one wasn't alone to enjoy it. Lady Westholme and Dr Gerard had finished with drugs and were now arguing about guileless young women who were exported in a sinister manner to Argentinian cabarets. Dr Gerard had displayed throughout the conversation a levity which Lady Westholme, who, being a true politician, had no sense of humour, found definitely deplorable.

‘We go on now, yes?' announced the tarbrushed dragoman, and began to talk about the iniquities of Jews again.

It was about an hour off sunset when they reached Ma'an at last. Strange wild-faced men crowded round the car. After a short halt they went on.